I don't own The Legend of Dragoon, any of the characters except Ian Takahari, or the Choose Your Own Adventure book I got the concept of kujifrom.

I awoke, stuck in a tree, with no idea where I was or how I got there. The last thing I remembered was going to sleep in the bushes after fleeing the dojo, and I was pretty sure I'd have noticed going to sleep in a tree, instead. Besides which, I didn't recognize the area. And I was certain that whatever that kiwi-thing beneath the tree was, it wasn't from Earth. The only conclusion I could come to was that, somehow, I was on another planet. This conclusion bothered me somewhat, but I decided that I could worry about it later. For now, I had to get out of the tree and get my bearings.

I drew my sword and cut the branches holding me in the tree. Of course, I neglected to consider the obvious. Thus, I tumbled head-first out of the tree and knocked myself unconscious.



When I came to, three people were standing over me, one with a broadsword, one with a spear, and the third with a bow. "You okay?" the one with the sword asked.

"Yeah. Just hit my head, gettin' outta the tree. By the way, where in blazes am I?"

He frowned. "You don't know? This is the Prairie, not far from Hellena Prison. We just got away from there."

"Ah. Sorry, but I don't even know how I got here. The name's Ian Takahari, by the way."

"I'm Dart, the guy with the spear is Lavitz, and the girl is Shana. The Hellena wardens will be here any minute, so we have to get going. You might want to come with us."

"Thanks. I don't know where else to go, anyway. And if the wardens get too close, well, I can take care of them." Brandishing my sword, I stood up. "Well, then, let's go." We headed off to the north.

Unfortunately, our escape was cut short by a stream across the path. "We'll have to find another way," Dart said.

We found a shack where Lavitz's wound could be attended to. "So," I asked, "just what is going on around here, anyway?"

Lavitz answered. "Currently, our Kingdom of Basil is at war with Imperial Sandora."

Dart looked up. "Why was the truce broken?"

"Sandora has obtained a Dragon. This has made them bold."

"Dragon!?" Dart looked surprised.

"Do you know something about it?" Lavitz asked him.

"I was attacked by it on my way to Seles. A passing warrior saved me."

I drew my sword and began cleaning it. "Let's try to avoid it, shall we? My sword may be sharp, but I'm not sure that it's that sharp."

"What kind of sword is that, anyway?" Dart asked. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's called a katana. Used by the ninja and the Samurai, it is a deadly weapon. Mine is a ninja blade, handed down by my family for generations. It was forged by ancient swordsmiths several centuries ago. I myself am a ninja. Now, though, I am all that remains of the family. It's just as well that I wound up here. There was nothing left for me where I came from. I'll throw in my lot with Basil. If Sandora runs a place like Hellena, I would like nothing more than to stop them." I sheathed my sword. "We should bring that ax with us when we leave. It could come in handy."

Then Shana spoke up. "Where have you been all this time, Dart?"

"I was on a journey for revenge. To kill the one who destroyed my home."

"The Black Monster?"

He nodded. "He destroyed my hometown eighteen years ago."

"Sounds like as good a reason for revenge as any," I said. "Let's get going, shall we?" We left the shack and headed a little ways north, where we found a tree on the verge of falling over. Dart got the idea to chop it down and use it as a bridge across the river. Unfortunately, the tree fell into the river right after being cut down. We headed back to the river to find another way.

When we got back to the river, though, we saw the tree heading downstream, where it lodged against some rocks right in front of us. I shook my head. "How ironic." We crossed the stream and headed out of the Prairie.



Several hours later, we entered the nearby Limestone Cave. The place was dark, dank, and numerous other pejoratives related to caves. In short, it was an unpleasant hole in the mountain. Nevertheless, it was fastest, safest way to Bale. The trip was long, boring, and uneventful. Uneventful, that is, until we reached the guardian of the cave. It looked like a cross between a snake and a worm. It was also poisonous.

I drew my sword. "Let's take it!" On the heals of that statement, I charged it. "Dancing Death!" A series of devastating stabs, slashes, and chops nearly turned the creature to paste.

The others looked at me in awe. "What... was that?" Lavitz asked.

"It's a technique I developed a couple of years ago. It's very dangerous, which is why I never used it when sparring in training. It's generally considered a bad thing to kill your training partner. Causes all sorts of problems. Now, how's about we get out of here and go someplace more civilized?"

As we were leaving, however, the guardian abruptly reared up and lunged at Shana. Just before it could hit her, though, something strange happened: light came from her forehead, and the thing disintegrated. We looked at her in shock. "What just happened?" I asked. Shana looked as shocked and confused as the rest of us.

"I don't know!" she said, looking frightened.

"Let's worry about it later, okay? Like maybe when we're in a place without monsters?" We exited the Limestone Cave and headed for Bale.



When we arrived in Bale, I split off from the others to go to a weapons shop. My katana needed to be sharpened, and I had run out of oil back at the Prairie.

I met up with the others at the castle. We were going to meet with King Albert, who was also Lavitz's best friend. I made sure to tuck a small scroll in my gear, since I had nearly lost it going through the Limestone Cave. I had no intention of revealing it to Dart, Lavitz, and Shana yet, but the Scroll of the Nine Hands was very important. It was, after all, the basis of many of my skills.

Presently we arrived at the throne room. The king stood up at the sight of Lavitz. "Lavitz! I'm glad to see you safe! When I heard that your knighthood had been attacked, I was worried."

"My knighthood was destroyed, Your Highness. The few survivors were taken to Hellena prison, where the others were killed. I managed to escape with the help of this man," indicating Dart, "and, after rescuing Shana, here, we fled to the Prairie, where we encountered this young man," gesturing to me, "who had no idea how he had gotten there. From there, we went through the Limestone Cave and came here. Ian, here, came in part to talk to Minister Noish."

I stepped forward. "Minister, I would like to ask you a question. I have heard since arriving that you know all the legends of Endiness. Is there any mention of anything that allow people to traverse between different worlds?" Dart, Lavitz, and Shana looked at me in shock. I had not told them what I intended to ask.

Noish looked surprised himself. "There are some legends on the matter, yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because I am from another world myself. I fled certain death last night, and when I awoke I was here. I have no idea how I got here, and I may choose not to return, but I want to know if there is at least a possibility of returning to my own world."

"Very well. Yes, there are mentions of such things in legend. In particular, there are distinct references to something called the Dark Mirror. It was supposed to have been a Wingly creation, but it is unclear as to whether it was real or simple legend. I am curious, though, as to why you would not want to return to your own world."

"Simple enough. Last night, my family was attacked and killed by a group of assassins of unknown intent. I'm still puzzled as to how they got in without being noticed, not to mention the fact that a group of petty assassins was capable of killing a family of swordsmen. I barely escaped with my life."

"How didyou escape, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I killed them." I said, matter-of-factly. Noish looked mildly surprised at how casual I was about it, but made no comment.

The king thanked us and invited us to stay at the castle for the night. I did not sleep much, instead using a technique from the Scroll of the Nine Hands. The room around me began to fade, as I began to travel back in time, following my own past, so that I could see what had happened the previous night in my own world. It was going to be a long night...

I materialized on the roof of the dojo. Even though I saw the assassins, there was nothing I could do to stop them at this point in time, but in any case that was not my purpose here. I needed to see if there was any insignia on them, or any other distinguishing characteristics.

I realized with a start that the assassins were not Japanese. I hadn't noticed before I killed them because I was too busy trying to do just that, and afterwards, there wasn't enough left. But now, I noticed a patch on their shoulders that looked familiar.

I decided that it was time to return to the present, since I suspected that that insignia was from Endiness. I went through the spell again and returned to Bale. The next morning I was going to ask Lavitz if he recognized the insignia.



Upon awaking in the morning, I sought him out and described the emblem to him, claiming to have remembered it from the night of the attack. His face clouded over. "The assassins were from Sandora," he said.

"That's what I thought. The question is, how did they get there?"

"And why? Even if he knew about you, why would Emperor Doel attack you? Until you got here, you were no threat to him. Unless..."

"Unless what?" I demanded.

"Unless he knows something we don't. I'll have to talk to Noish again. I think there may be some ancient prophecy regarding this. It may refer to you."

"To me? Why?"

"I don't know. That's why I need to talk to Noish. I'll let you know if anything comes up."

"Thanks." He went off in search of Noish.



When he returned he had a puzzled expression on his face. "What is it?" I asked him.

"Well," he said, "there is such a prophecy, though it doesn't refer to you by name. It's one of the Dragoon legends."

I nodded. Noish had spoken of the Dragoons the previous day. "But what does it have to do with me?"

"It say, 'When the man from another world appears seeking the Dark Mirror, the Diamond Dragon his servant shall become'. I don't know what that means, but it does lend credence to the existence of the Mirror. Doel probably knows of it, since he was interested in the ancient prophecies. Other than that, I'm as much in the dark as you."

I nodded, resigned. "Well, no sense worrying about it. Off to... what did you call it, Hoax?"

"Yeah. We need to support the knights there."

"Then let's go. Where are Dart and Shana?"

"Shopping for supplies, I think. We're supposed to meet them on the way out."

"Got it." We headed off to the town gate, linking up with Dart and Shana along the way.



We arrived at Hoax to find the place bustling with military activity, but no townspeople were in sight. Lavitz said that they had been evacuated days earlier, when Hoax ended up as the next place in the Sandorans' path.

Dart, Lavitz, and I were assigned to guard the wall. I was unconcerned about regular soldiers, but the Dragon made me somewhat nervous. As I had commented to Dart and the others back in the Prairie, I wasn't sure that my sword was sharp enough to take on a Dragon. I was still troubled by the prophecy Lavitz had uncovered. The Diamond Dragon sounded to me to have a very strong hide, given that diamonds were the hardest mineral known to man. On the other hand, it indicated that I would be its master.

I banished the thought and returned to guard duty.



That night, Dart, Lavitz, and I were standing guard when the owls fell silent. Then the sentry on the opposite wall called out a warning. Hoax was under attack.

When a group of Sandorans appeared on the ground behind us, I turned to Dart and Lavitz. "Go! I'll take care of things up here. Kill them all!" Dart nodded and they dropped off the wall.

I turned my attention to the enemy soldiers climbing the wall ahead of me. "You don't know what you're dealing with, buddy. Tornado!" I began spinning, whirling my blade around in circles. While I received numerous minor wounds, my attack swept them off the walls. By this time, Dart and Lavitz had gotten back to the wall, just in time to face a Sandoran elite. I laughed in his face. "Is this the best you can throw at us? You're pathetic. Dancing Death!" I charged the enemy, but the Sandoran wrapped his chain around me and flung me away. Painful for me as it was, the distraction cost him his life: Lavitz came up from behind and drove his spear through the Sandoran's chest.

Then we heard a shout from below. "G-G-Giganto!"

My head whipped around. "What!?" There was an enormous figure charging into the town, carrying an equally large ax. "What's that!?" I didn't wait around for an answer, but instead jumped down, followed by Dart and Lavitz.

I faced the giant unflinchingly. Then I charged, shouting as I went. "Shun Goku Satsu!" I slashed down, right to left, then reversed the stroke, sweeping the blade up, left to right. I followed up with a head-level cut, then chopped down. While I brought my sword back, I lashed out with my foot, then spun my sword in a 360 clockwise slice, which I reversed into a cut to the left, then back to the right, and finally I stabbed the Giganto in the chest.

It did a good deal of damage, but he retaliated by knocking me backwards, my sword flying in another direction. Just after I hit, I saw the giant standing over Dart, just about to chop him in half.

Then something came down from the sky: a woman in odd armor, with wings. She hovered, pointing her sword, which reminded me of a German rapier, at Dart. Then she spoke. "Wake up! Dragoon of the Red-Eye Dragon!"

Dart was engulfed in flames, and a burst of fire shot out at the Giganto. When the flames faded, Dart was standing there in armor like the woman's.

Just then, I passed out.

Author's note: Please read and review. Also, if anyone happens to know if kujiis a legend or not, I would be grateful if I could shorten the disclaimer.